Tuesday, February 7, 2012

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer

COUNTDOWN TO VICTORY: 273 DAYS TO THE 2012 ELECTIONS

BREAKING NEWS: TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE "IRRATIONAL"

The Ninth "Circus" Court of Appeals has struck again. Today, a divided three-judge panel overruled the majority of California voters and struck down Proposition 8 -- the state's constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

The court's majority ruled that traditional marriage "fails to advance any rational basis." So in spite of thousands of years of recorded history, in spite of the values held by every major faith, in spite of basic biology and common sense and in spite of the will of the people, these left-wing judicial ideologues believe that normal marriage is irrational.

Here's the bottom line: The culture war is real. The left does not intend to allow these issues to be decided by the people in their respective states. Obama and the left will use the courts to force their radical agenda down our throats.

But there is a solution: Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The solution is to elect men and women to public office -- from the White House down -- who will respect the Constitution and unapologetically defend our values!

As this report warns, an Obama second term will "allow him to expand his replacement of Republican-appointed majorities with Democratic ones on the nation's appeals courts, the final stop for almost all challenged federal court rulings." In other words, with four more years, Obama can pack the courts with left-wing radicals.

No matter what you might think about the eventual GOP nominee, this issue alone should drive conservatives to the polls in November to vote Obama out and elect as many pro-family, pro-life conservatives to the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as possible!

Please click here now to make an emergency donation to stop the assault our values by bringing the Obama nightmare to an end in 273 days.

Obama Unites The Faithful

The nation's Catholic leaders are ratcheting up the pressure on the Obama Administration in response to a series of actions that violate church teachings and in some cases appear motivated by anti-Catholic bias. The latest incident is the administration's mandate requiring religious institutions to provide coverage for contraception, sterilization and even abortion-inducing drugs in their health insurance. Church leaders have warned that the mandate forces them to choose between offering health insurance and violating their core moral code.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League warned, "Never before, unprecedented in American history, for the federal government to line up against the Roman Catholic Church. This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets."

Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, William McGurn notes the potential impact of this action on Catholic Charities:

"Take Catholic Charities, America's largest private network of social service organizations. Assuming its 70,000 employees have some kind of health insurance, a principled decision not to comply with the mandate would mean $140 million a year in fines alone (plus higher costs to help employees buy insurance individually). That means millions less for struggling families, for refugees, for the sick and elderly and for other needy Americans who benefit from their good works."

This decision has been widely condemned even by liberal columnists, leading national newspapers, as well as other Christian denominations and Jewish organizations. Consider some of these statements:

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod: "This action by HHS will have the effect of forcing many religious organizations to choose between following the letter of the law and operating within the framework of their religious tenets."

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America: "In declining to expand the religious exemption within the healthcare reform law, the Obama Administration has disappointingly failed to respect the needs of religious organizations such as hospitals, social welfare organizations and more."

National Association of Evangelicals: "No government has the right to compel its citizens to violate their conscience. The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent."

Silencing Our Chaplains

Now there is news that Pentagon officials attempted to silence Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services. On January 26th, the archbishop issued a blistering letter with instructions for it to be read aloud from the pulpit by all Catholic military chaplains.

Referring to the contraception mandate, the letter read in part, "It is a blow to a freedom that you have fought to defend and for which you have seen your buddies fall in battle. We cannot -- we will not -- comply with this unjust law."

The Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains essentially declared the letter unauthorized and ordered chaplains not to read it aloud, but said it could be made available in print. A compromise that preserved the archbishop's First Amendment rights was eventually reached after a phone call between Archbishop Broglio and Secretary of the Army John McHugh, who conceded it was wrong to censor the letter. You can read more here.

How Should We Respond?

My friends, these are very disturbing developments. Religious liberty is under assault today from the far left on our courts and from far left ideologues in the White House. It is imperative that men and women of faith take a stand in defense of freedom.

If you are a pastor, please preach about the importance of religious liberty. You don't have to agree with Catholic teaching on contraception to realize that religious freedom for every faith is in jeopardy when the government can redefine the meaning of marriage or order religious institutions to violate their core values. If you are close to your pastor, encourage him to speak up.

I also encourage pastors to reach out to Catholic leaders in your community. Invite them to briefly address your congregations. Let them know you are standing with them. Share the letters and statements that have been issued in recent weeks by church leaders such as those quoted above.